Why would you WANT to try to use both PHP and Java for the same project?
Yes, you can do it. But all it will do is almost double your learning time.
Choose one and stick with it.
I agree that PHP is the easier to use for Web-based work, but if your class/department requires you to use Java, then go ahead and use JSP.
You *can* use JSP and *NOT* use any of the Java Frameworks, and if you are in a hurry to produce something I'd be sorely tempted to go in that direction. Fundamentally, you just create HTML pages and then, at the last step, slip in the JSP code.
For example, you might create some HTML like this:
Code:
<table>
<tr><th>Name</th><th>Address</th></tr>
<tr><td>$NAME</td><td>$ADDRESS</td></tr>
</table>
Here, $NAME and $ADDRESS just serve as place holders so you can see what the HTML will produce.
And when the page looks "pretty", you now go and slip in your Java code. Roughly, something like this:
Code:
<table>
<tr><th>Name</th><th>Address</th></tr>
<%
... make db connection ...
... make statement object ...
ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT name, address FROM table ORDER BY name" );
while ( rs.next() )
{
%>
<tr><td><%=rs.getString(1)%></td>
<td><%=rs.getString(2)%></td></tr>
<%
}
%>
</table>
Not the best JSP code, but it works and actually works quite well. It's a good first step with JSP.